Meeting His Past
by Elfsong
Summary: Chase's past returns after his father comes for his visit. He and House get closer as the older doctor tries to unravel the mystery of Robert Chase. OCs. House X Chase. Discontinued. Up for adoption.
1. A Time to Remember

Before I get started, I feel the need to warn you that there will be a few Original Characters in this story. I will try to keep them to a minimum, and they shouldn't take over the story, so please let me know if they get too heavy. Also, this is hopefully a kind of different look for Chase's childhood and growing years. Thanks. BTW, I don't own anyone you recognize.

- - - - -

"_Robbie! Look, it finally came!" A small blonde girl jumped up and down, wrapping her small arms around her eldest brother while waiting for Robbie. The boy ran in, his blue-green eyes sparkling as excitedly as his sister's hazel. Both children tore into the wrapping of a package that had just arrived in the mail. Inside were two nearly identical bags. Inside each bag was everything a child would need for a camping trip, sans sleeping bag and tent. Both children squealed happily, then winced as a loud moan was heard from upstairs._

_The older boy motioned for the children, six-year-old fraternal twins, to gather their bags and follow him outside. The eighteen-year-old set the camping equipment up in the backyard and entertained his siblings while they waited for their mother to either take some Advil or drink away her current hangover. Their father was busy at some medical conference in Paris, leaving him to play mother and father to his young siblings. The twins loved it, though. He looked at them instead of through them like Daddy did, and he played with them and made sure they ate unlike Mummy._

"_Do you think Daddy will remember his promise this time?" Robbie asked, startling his brother out of his thoughts. The teen hadn't realized that the twins were old enough to remember disappointments already. Most children were able to shrug things off for longer than six years, weren't they?_

"_I don't know, Robbie. If he doesn't, though, we'll just have to have more fun to make up for it."_

"_Really?" the little girl asked. "You don't think he'll be mad at us for having fun without him, do you?"_

"_Is Grandad ever mad at us for having fun without him?"_

"_No…"_

"_Then Dad shouldn't either. Don't worry; I'll take care of it."_

"_Thanks, Dylan."_

- - - -

Robert Chase woke with a gasp. He looked up to see Foreman and Cameron staring at him oddly. He was just thankful that House was busy in the Clinic. As if sleeping on the job wasn't bad enough, he had to actually make noise upon waking. He ran a hand through his hair and pushed himself upright. None of House's three fellows said a word as the blond left the room.

He had managed to force all thoughts of his siblings from his mind for nearly five years. His father's trip must have stirred up more than he had thought. His fist clenched and unclenched when he thought of the last time his family had been together. It was nearly fifteen years earlier that Rowan Chase had destroyed his family, and all of Robbie's childhood dreams.

Chase entered the restroom and leaned against the sink. He stared hard into his own blue-green eyes, searching for his own memories of a girl who shared his face and hair. She had her own eyes, a brilliant golden-green color that sparkled merrily when she laughed, her head thrown back and waves of golden-blonde hair cascading down her back. All he could see, though, was the flat brown color that stared at him at their last meeting, when the only sparkle to be found on her face was the tear that slid down her cheek.

- - - -

"_If you plan to waste your life like that, then you can get out of my house!" Rowan yelled. His teenage daughter stared up at him defiantly. Her chin rose stubbornly, and her eyes snapped in anger._

"_So that's your plan?" she demanded of a man she considered family by DNA only. "You don't like something so you get rid of it? I can see where you would get the idea, though. I mean, heaven knows it's worked before! Unhappy with your wife? Walk out on her and leave her fifteen-year-old children to take care of her. Don't like your eldest's choice of mate? Cut him out of the will and disown him. Don't like your only daughter's career choice? Kick her to the curb. It's worked beautifully in the past; why shouldn't it work now?"_

"_Enough!" he roared. "You will not speak to me in that tone of voice, young lady!"_

"_Why shouldn't I? You're kicking me out, remember?"_

"_I'm still your father and you _will_ respect me!"_

"_Respect has to be earned, Daddy Dearest. You've got the respect of nearly every medical professional on the planet, but you never cared enough to even try with your family."_

"_I'm your father! That respect is to be shown no matter what!"_

"_That's not respect! That's dictatorship! You're no better than a Nazi," she sneered. A resounding CRACK! surprised all three of them. Rowan looked at his stinging hand to his daughter, who was curled up on the floor, holding her cheek. Robbie looked on in fear and shock. Unlike his siblings, he had never really developed the backbone for standing up to people in direct authority over him. Part of him wanted to run to his sister, but a fear of his father held him back. The man was large and intimidating, but until now he had never raised a hand to his children. Neither Robbie nor his twin knew what to do with this new version of the man._

_Before either male could react, the girl rushed from the room. Rowan turned a disgusted look onto Robbie; then stalked into his office, pulling his door closed behind him. Robbie stood in the hallway, trembling violently and desperately trying to think of something that would save what was left of his family. His sister walked back into the room, a full duffel bag slung over her shoulder, and a plane ticket in her hand._

"_I'm so sorry, Robbie. I just can't stay here anymore. I have just enough to get you a plane ticket of your own if you want it, but we'd be on our own from that point." She raised a hand and brushed a tear off her twin's cheek. Robbie choked on a sob._

"_But someone has to take care of Mum," he whimpered. She nodded, and he watched in silence as a tear slid down her tanned cheek. Her normally shining hazel eyes were a flat brown, all of their usual spark was hidden by the pain._

"_Can you do that, Robbie? I know you're loyal enough, but I'm worried about you. It still hurts you too much to see her drunk, and you've never handled her drunken rages well."_

"_I'll be okay. Go out and live. Enjoy everything life has for you, and please keep in touch!" She nodded, hugged him, and walked out the door. Two months later, Tamara Chase died of alcohol poisoning, and Rowan moved his remaining son to Sydney, where the teen started Seminary School. He was unable to leave a forwarding address for his twin._

- - - -

James Wilson walked into the bathroom, halting when he saw Chase glaring at his own reflection. Cameron had mentioned something about a bad dream, but Chase's reaction was worrisome. Wilson walked over to the young blond and placed an arm on his shoulder. Wilson looked into the mirror and was shocked to see tears in the young man's eyes. Chase quickly looked away. When he raised his head again the tears were gone and he appeared to be under control again.

"Are you okay?" Wilson asked. Chase nodded.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Cameron mentioned that you had a bad dream or something."

"Just a bad memory. My father's visit must have stirred things up. I just needed to get control of myself."

Wilson stared hard into his eyes, as if judging his sincerity. Finally he nodded and squeezed Chase's shoulder gently. "If you ever need to talk about it, you know where to find me." Chase nodded again and moved to shrug off Wilson's hand. "Chase," Wilson spoke softly, "if you ever need to talk and I'm not immediately available, House and Cuddy both have my cell and home numbers." Chase nodded a third time and pulled away.

Chase was pushing open the door when he turned back to look at Wilson again. "Please don't talk to House about this? He's got enough ammunition against me as it is right now."

"I won't."

"Thank you."


	2. A Time to Meet

AN: I have fun news! My friend Berserker Nightwitch has offered to draw pictures to accompany this story! (I love having pictures to look at while I work on stories; it just makes it so much more fun) So keep an eye on her deviant art account (she has it listed as her homepage on her profile) in the next few weeks if you're interested. She's on vacation right now, but she said she'd get them up as soon as she had access to a scanner and Photoshop again. YAY!!

- - - -

Dr. Gregory House enjoyed puzzles. That really wasn't anything new. Now, though, he found himself trying to work out four different puzzles at once. First there was the idiot in ICU who had seizures, heart problems, a continuous nose bleed, and appeared to be allergic to just about every medication known to modern man. Second was his young, blond minion. Dark circles were growing under the boy's eyes, and he was having trouble concentrating. Third was Wilson's sudden avoidance of him. Whenever House got within shouting distance, Wilson suddenly remembered his oh-so-important patient that could only be reach by using the stairs. The fourth puzzle was figuring out how the thing with Chase and the thing with Wilson were related.

House glared through the glass separating his office from the main diagnostics room. Cameron was reading one of her trashy romance novels, Foreman was rereading the 'Big Book of Diseases', as House had dubbed it, and Chase was staring unhappily at a small picture in his wallet. Suddenly the doors were thrown open and Cuddy led a man into the room. House guessed him to be about forty, and standing at roughly six and a half feet tall. His thick brown hair was cut close to his head, and he had a neatly trimmed beard covering the lower half of his face.

House's three fellows looked up at the sound of the door, and Chase immediately got a look of concern on his face. "Dylan? What are you doing here?"

"Hey Robbie. I just heard that you got a visit from the Nazi," the man answered, his deep voice flavored by both Australian and French accents. "I figured I'd better stop by to see you." Chase raised an eyebrow disbelievingly. Dylan sighed and nodded. "Okay, so we got word that Rowan showed up here, and when I got home from work that day Giselle told me that I could either come check on you, or I could go check into a motel. I hadn't even shut the front door yet! Of course, then I had to figure out which ticket I should cancel."

"Why couldn't you both have come?" Chase asked, standing. Dylan moved forward and pulled the smaller man into a hug.

"One, someone needed to stay home with the monsters she calls children. Two, she get airsick easily. And three, I don't want her flying pregnant."

"You got her pregnant again?" Chase asked.

"Hey! We _are_ married this time! Just because you didn't keep in touch after moving to Sydney…"

"I didn't know your address or phone number, and I didn't exactly have time to leave a forwarding address." Dylan shrugged and turned to face Cuddy and House. The former had a look of surprise on her face; the latter looked like he was trying to solve a puzzle whose pieces were randomly appearing, disappearing, and changing sizes.

"Do you mind if I borrow him for the rest of the day?" Dylan asked, gesturing at Chase.

"Dylan, I have a job to do. I can't just- "

"You've probably never taken a sick day since you've been here, you doubtlessly work extra hours every week, and you can't be too busy if your coworkers are reading and napping."

"Chase," Cuddy broke in, causing both men to turn to her, "go ahead and take the day off. I do expect you back tomorrow, though." Chase nodded and Dylan grinned.

"You should try for three days off! Then you could come back to Beauvais with me and meet the family."

"I'm not taking off three days of work just to fly to France for a day. That's stupid."

"I took off three days of work just to fly to America for a day," Dylan protested.

"You can afford it," Chase shot back. He turned and waved goodbye to his colleagues before following the man out the door, both of them bickering the whole way.

"Who was that?" Foreman asked, wondering at the man who could get their tight-lipped coworker to open up in front of an audience.

"He introduced himself as Doctor Dylan Chase," Cuddy answered. "He told me that he flew in from France this morning to see Robert Chase, and asked if I could take him to wherever Chase was."

"Do you think their names are a coincidence, or are they related?" Cameron wondered aloud.

"Neither of them appear to think very highly of Rowan, so I'd say that was probably an older brother or a cousin," House announced.

"So which of Chase's relatives is going to appear next?" Foreman asked snidely. "His grandparents? His mother?"

"I hope not. The smell alone would be awful," House replied, smirking. He received confused looks from the others in the room. "The woman has been dead for the past ten years. Do any of you know how smelly rotting flesh is?" He pretended to shudder; then headed out the door to go bother Wilson.

- - - -

"So how have you been?" Dylan asked when they got back to Chase's house.

"Okay, I guess. I thought I had put all of this behind me years ago; then _he_ shows up and everything is thrown back in my face. I almost started crying in the hospital bathroom last week!"

"But you managed to not cry?"

"Wilson walked in and caught me staring at my reflection."

"Well, I'll just have to thank Wilson when I meet him. I know how much you hate crying in public places. Did he really upset you that badly? What did he say to you?"

"It was nothing he said or did," Robbie corrected. "House just kept trying to shove us on each other, and seeing him act so… so full of himself reminded me of when we were younger. I fell asleep at work last week and dreamed of you and Liv. Remember when we got that camping stuff in the mail, and Liv and I were so excited?"

"Of course. I was the one who ended up taking you camping, since Dr Dad begged out to go on a week-long conference instead, and Mum couldn't bring herself to put down the vodka long enough to put on make-up. Why?"

"That's what I dreamed of. It was so vivid! Then when I was trying to get myself under control I remembered that argument he and Liv had before she left. Every time I try to sleep lately I remember something else. I wish I could talk to her again."

"I would find her for you if I could. You know that, right?" Dylan asked. Robbie nodded and leaned into his brother's embrace.

"I'd really like to know how you found me. We haven't heard from each other in ten years."

"I heard that the infamous Dr Rowan Chase was seen at the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. We would he go there if not to see the only child he hasn't completely ruined his relationship with?"

"He said he was attending a conference."

"His name wasn't on the list. Besides, that still wouldn't have taken him to a teaching hospital. Back to the point, though, I Googled your name and found you listed as one of Dr Gregory House's fellows. You aren't nearly as hard to track as Liv is."

"She was always the best at Hide-n-Seek. We won't find her until she wants to be found." Robbie shook his head and stood up. "Enough moping. I have someone for you to meet."

"Really? Who?"

"My kids," Robbie answered with a grin, enjoying the shocked look on his brother's face. Dylan reminded him that he had never heard that Robbie got married. Robbie grinned again and opened the back door. Two large reddish-brown blurs raced into the room and attacked Robbie, knocking the young man over. They finally stilled enough for Dylan to see two reddish-colored dogs, both reaching higher than Robbie's thigh, if the blond was still upright. Dylan reached out a hand to greet the closer dog when it turned its attention to him.

"That's Ryn. She's older than Phoma by about five minutes." Robbie introduced his babies with a grin. Dylan greeted the dogs warmly, happy when they seemed to like him back. Ryn was more brown that red, and had a white belly forehead mark. Phoma was an auburn color with no other colors on her at all. "They're called Pharaoh Hounds. I got them as puppies when their mum had a large litter and the owner couldn't sell them all. Most people in this area really don't want large dogs."

"Makes sense. I think you've got the largest yard around."

"Another stroke of luck," Robbie responded with a shrug. "The lots are the same size; I just have a smaller house sitting on mine." Robbie did have a small house. The front door opened into a medium-sized living room, which shared a wall with a kitchen and dining room. The dining room had a door leading to the backyard. There was a hall leading out of the living room with four doors attached. Two lead to bedrooms, one opened into a bathroom, and the last one opened to reveal a closet. There was no garage, so Robbie's small, second-hand car sat in the driveway.

"I can see that," Dylan commented. He looked down at the dogs again. "So how did you come up with Ryn and Phoma, anyway?"

"I was still in my last few years in school, and when I got them we were reviewing various diseases. When I tried to think of names for them all I could come up with were Laryngitis and Lymphoma. I shortened them to Ryn and Phoma, and they responded well."

"Robbie, you are the only person I know who names their pets after diseases."

"You named your hamster Osteocarsoma."

"That's a cancer."

"Cancer's a disease."

"I called him Ossie."

"He was still named after a disease."

"I was thirteen! And how do you even remember that? You were barely four when he died!"

Robbie shrugged again. "He was the only pet Mum and Dad ever allowed in the house." Dylan shrugged and the conversation moved on. The brothers talked well into the night about anything and everything, trying to catch up on ten years of life in less than twenty four hours. Robbie arrived at work at the same time that Dylan arrived at the airport. They had made plans to meet up again when Giselle and the baby were up for a trans-Atlantic flight.


End file.
